d the extraordinary serenity and pleasantness of the
face--and that, though it was the face of a Poor Man, with sunken cheeks
and lines at the corners of the mouth.

"Thank you, Father," he said. "The same to you."

Then he went on, his boots as noisy as ever, and turned up the south
aisle. And presently the sound of his boots ceased.

* * * * *

The priest still stood a moment or two, looking and thinking, and it
struck him with something of pleasure that the young man, though
obviously of the most completely submerged tenth, had not even hesitated
or paused, still less said one word, with the hope of a little something
for Christmas' sake. Surely he had spoken, too, with the voice of an
educated man.

He became suddenly interested--he scarcely knew why, and the impression
made just by that single glimpse of a personality deepened every
moment.... What in the world was that young man doing here?... What was
his business up in that empty south aisle? Who was he? What was it all
about?

He thought presently that he would go up and see; it was on his way back
to the clergy-house, too. But when he reached the corner of the aisle
and could see up it, there seemed to be no one there.

He began to walk up, wondering more than ever, and then on a sudden he
saw a figure kneeling on the lower step of the chapel on the right,
railed off and curtained now, where the Crib was ready to be disclosed
two hours later.

It all seemed very odd. He could not understand why anyone should wish
to pray before an impenetrable curtain. As he came nearer he saw it was
his friend all right. Those boots were unmistakable. The young man was
kneeling on the step, quite upright and motionless, his cap held in his
hands, facing towards the curtain behind which, no doubt, there stood
the rock-roofed stable, with the Three Personages--an old man, a maid
and a new-born Child. But their time, too, was not yet. It was two hours
away.

Priests do not usually stare in the face of people who are saying their
prayers--they are quite accustomed to that phenomenon; but this priest
(he tells me) simply could not resist it. And as he passed on his
noiseless shoes, noticing that the light from his own confessional shone
full upon the man, he turned and looked straight at his face.

Now I do not understand what it was that he saw; he does not understand
it himself; but it seems that there was something that impressed him